By Ngalame Elias
The Rainforest Trust and partner, AJEMALEBU Self Help,AJESH, the German Cooperation are supporting the efforts by the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife to merge and upgrade two contiguous Forest Reserves in the Rumpi mountains into one National Park called Rumpi Rata National Park. The project is geared at creating a Safe Haven for Cameroon’s Endangered Species.
It’s against this backdrop that a sensitization workshop( meeting) for local authorities and elites on the process of upgrading forest reserve into a national park took place at the Mundemba Council hall, Feb. 26, 2025.
The sensitization meeting organized by AJESH and partners was presided over by the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO for Ndian, Gilbert Guibai Baldena in the presence of the Mayor of Mundemba, traditional rulers, representatives of the MINIFOF and other stakeholders.
According to the SDO, the proposed National Park will see one of the oldest forest reserve( The Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve) transformed into a safe haven the rare amphibian and plant species found in this ancient cloud forests of Cameroon that has been facing threats of extinction due to unregulated land clearing, logging, and poaching.
” The proposed National Park is one of the oldest forest areas in Cameroon with thousands of plant species and large mammals including the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpazee, Elephants Drills, etc, several birds, fish and insect species. It is a biodiversity hotspot and a sanctuary for endemic flora and fauna, “ the SDO said.
He however lamented that despite the conservation importance and biodiversity richness of the area, the protection status was low and not adapted to its real value. It is for the reason tha MINFOF and partners elaborated and submitted in 2023, a technical note for upgrading the Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve and Mt Rata into a National Park.
According to AJESH CEO, Harrison Ajebe Nnoko, the Mundemba meeting marks the beginning of the sensitization process.
“ This workshop aims at launching and sensitizing the local authorities, elites and key stakeholders on the upgrading process,” he said.
It should be noted that within the framework of the new 2024 forestry law, the local communities and concerned stakeholders are supposed to fully involved in the upgrading process, from the initiation,preparation of technical note, public notice, sensitization of the administration and local authorities, villagers, creation of divisional committee meetings for gazette to the completion of the file for the upgrading and transmission to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.
AJESH CEO Harrison Ajebe Nnoko at the opening of the sensitization workshop.
Workshop participants
Site description
The Rumpi Hills forest reserve was created in 1937 with a surface area of 45,226 ha and the MT RATA IN Dikoume Balue area has a surface area of 3,892 ha.
The proposed RUMPI-RATA National Park,will be made of the Rumpi hill forest reserve, and the Mt. Rata forest, cutting across the Mumdemba, Toko, DikoumeBalue and Ekondo Titi subdivisions in Ndian division.
The Rumpi Hills forest reserve is situated to the north of Mount Cameroon , west of the Bakossi mountains and south-east of Korup National Park , include a number of peaks over 1,000 m, the highest of which is Mount Rata, 1,768 m. Many of the peaks are the result of extensive faulting, so that there are no classic volcanic cones with craters. Part of the site comprises an area of mid-altitude forest, largely degraded by logging and agricultural encroachment. Mount Rata has more intact forest than the surrounding areas. In addition to the mid-altitude forest, coastal evergreen and drier northern semi-evergreen forest elements occur. There are many permanent watercourses. The area has, until now, been a production Forest Reserve, open to logging concessions; much of the forest has, in consequence, gone or is in a poor state. The area around Mount Rata appears less damaged, but surveys are needed to establish where the best forest is located. Despite high hunting pressure, MINEF now plans to convert the Rumpi Hills into a 45,675 ha Faunal Reserve in which, it is hoped, Mount Rata will be included.
